Science Fiction « Lawrence Person's Futuramen

Posts Tagged ‘Science Fiction’

Happy Birthday, Gene Wolfe!

Tuesday, May 7th, 2013

Gene turned 82 today. Hopefully he’ll be at the San Antonio Worldcon. I also look forward to reading his book The Land Across later this year.

I also hope to have a bit more Gene Wolfe-related content later in the week.

Tags:Books, Fantasy, Gene Wolfe, Science Fiction
Posted in Books, Fantasy, Science Fiction | No Comments »

Massive Science Fiction Piracy at BookOS.org

Tuesday, May 7th, 2013

Good news, everyone! There’s a new website called BookOS offering millions of free books to download!

Bad news, everyone! It’s a pirate site that most likely hasn’t obtained any e-rights for any of the millions of copyrighted works they have available!

Who are they pirating? Well, they have around a hundred works by Howard Waldrop that I know they haven’t bought e-rights for (because I asked him), and they have hundreds of works by:

Gail Carriger

Bil Crider

Paul Di Filippo

Harlan Ellison (good thing they picked someone whose never been known to sue anyone, eh?)

Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Gene Wolfe

Outgoing SFWA President John Scalzi

Incoming SFWA President Steven Gould

And that’s just a random handful of writers I know that I checked on (plus Harlan Ellison, whom I’ve met, and who I know has some good lawyers). I’m sure there are hundreds of others.

Perhaps the folks at SFWA might sit up and take notice. And if your work is being pirated, you might want to write support@bookos.org and ask them to pull it down.

(Updated: Good news, everyone! Support@bookos.org wrote back to say the Waldrop has been removed, and now there’s a notice saying “Link deleted by legal owner.”)

Tags:Books, piracy, Science Fiction
Posted in Books, Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction | 1 Comment »

On San Antonio: Some Clarifications

Sunday, May 5th, 2013

Many of you reading this blog will be attending LoneStarCon 3, the San Antonio Worldcon this year.

Many of you reading this blog have also watched the SyFy Channel’s film Chupacabra Vs. The Alamo.

I know it may come as a shock to some, given the painstaking technical accuracy evident in other SyFy films like Mansquito and Arachaquake, but Chupacabra Vs. The Alamo does, in fact, take certain liberties. As such, to avoid disappointment among those visiting San Antonio for the first time, and given that it’s Cinco de Mayo, which plays an important role in the film, I want to offer up some clarifications on errors made in the film.

The Mexican border is southwest of San Antonio, not southeast. Southeast is the Gulf of Mexico.

There are no green mountains near San Antonio. Unlike, say, Vancouver.

Many people in Texas ride motorcycles, but they do so on roads, not against badly-composited bluescreens.

DEA Agents in Texas do not typically ride motorcycles with unsecured shotguns.

DEA Agents generally drive to crime scenes in cars, not motorcycles.

Especially not riding on the back of another DEA agent’s motorcycle.

People do not typically need to wear jackets in San Antonio in May. Unlike, say, Vancouver. (Though this year may be an exception…)

Animals the size of a Scottish Terrier are not typically capable of dragging away 200 pound police officers in full SWAT gear.

As the seventh largest city in the United States, San Antonio has a large, modern police force. They would not need a random assortment of DEA agents and rogue gang members to take out a few hundred wild dogs.

While many San Antonians are bilingual in both English and Spanish, seldom do they pepper their English with the very most common Spanish words, as though to say “Look, ese, I speak Spanish!”

Police interrogation rooms do not generally look like small business conference rooms.

Most Hispanic gang members in San Antonio don’t look vaguely Asian, and don’t speak with a slight Brooklyn accent.

It is very doubtful that repeating long rifles can be found in display cases at the Alamo, as the Spencer Repeating Rifle was not invented until 1860.

Even if they were in said display cases, it is very unlikely that they would be stored with live ammunition, ready to be used by anyone who broke open the case.

Even if the gunpowder hadn’t gone bad after almost two centuries.

There is no basement in the Alamo. (A point that I think has already been definitively established.)

There is no secret escape tunnel underneath the Alamo. If there was, I’m pretty sure 177 years of urban infrastructure development would have found it.

Especially if it was wide enough for 10 people to walk abreast.

Especially if it lead to a giant metal hatch in a parking lot near the Alamo. (Or, more specifically, a stage in front of a bad bluescreen projection of a parking lot near the Alamo.)

Chupacabras or not, DEA agent or not, if you blow up the Alamo, expect to spend a lot of time in jail.

As the 7th largest city in the U.S., San Antonio also has a large, modern Fire Department, so if you did blow up the Alamo, it would not still be giving off a plume of digital smoke well into the next day.

I hope this has cleared up any confusion anyone might have about San Antonio or the Alamo. Happy con-going!

Tags:Bad Movies, Chupacabra Vs. The Alamo, cryptozoology, Monster Movies, Movies, San Antonio, Science Fiction, SyFy Channel
Posted in Movies, Science Fiction | 3 Comments »

Library Additions: Jack Vance’s To Live Forever

Tuesday, April 30th, 2013

I continue to close in on my complete Jack Vance hardback first edition collection.

Vance, Jack. To Live Forever. Ballantine books, 1956. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy in a Near Fine- dust jacket with slight spine fading and tiny (1/32″) chipping at head and heel. Signed by Vance. Currey (1978), page 500, A1 (dark blue) binding. Hewett, A4ab.

Very nice copy of this early Jack Vance novel, and a middling difficult Ballantine hardcover.

Tags:Books, first editions, Jack Vance, pics, Science Fiction
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Library Additions: Signed True First of Lauren Beukes’ The Shining Girls

Monday, April 29th, 2013

From the “Distant Stations Heard From department, here’s something that might be hard to come by in the future:

Buekes, Lauren. The Shining Girls. Umuzi (South Africa), 2013. First edition hardback, #224 of 1000 copies signed and numbered by the author, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread. Precedes both UK and U.S. editions.

A few notes:

The front and rear boards have one color decorations.

Full color photographic montage endpapers.

No price on dust jacket (but it does have a UPC code at rear).

Dust jacket has 1″ foldover flaps at top and bottom.

I think this is the first South African book I have in SF library. Not sure how many of those thousand will make it up and over across the pond…

Tags:Books, First Edition, Horror, Lauren Beukes, Science Fiction
Posted in Books, Horror, Science Fiction | 1 Comment »

Prices Realized on SF Books in Heritage Auctions’ April 10 Offering

Thursday, April 11th, 2013

As a followup on my previous auction post, here are the prices realized on the items I highlighted in yesterday’s Heritage book auction. All prices include buyer’s premium:

Robert E. Howard’s original typewritten manuscript for the Conan story “A Witch Shall Be Born”, signed by Howard, went for $22,500.

A very nice first of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone went for a jaw-dropping $43,750.

A slightly tattered copy of H.P. Lovecraft’s The Outsider and Others went for $1,750.

A very nice copy of the Visionary publication of Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth went for $4,375.

Unbound signatures of the Recluse Press edition of The Shunned House went for $3,875.

26 letters by H. G. Wells went for $8,125.

A signed first of Wells’ The War of the Worlds went for a staggering $35,000. I don’t think one of the 12 or so known copies of the Henry Holt (true 1st) edition of The Time Machine has gone for that.

A nice copy of Alfred Bester’s Tiger! Tiger! went for a mere $800, a comparative bargain, since I’ve seen copies sell in excess of $2,000.

A pretty good copy of Roger Zelazny’s Lord of Light with a signature plate laid in went for $750.

Tags:book auction, Books, Fantasy, first editions, Heritage Auctions, Horror, Science Fiction
Posted in Books, Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction | No Comments »

Preview: SF First Editions in Heritage Auctions’ April 10th Offering

Monday, April 8th, 2013

Heritage Auctions has another signature book auction coming up on April 10, and there are several interesting SF/F/H first editions up for offer. Here’s a preview of a few:

Robert E. Howard’s original typewritten manuscript for the Conan story “A Witch Shall Be Born”, signed by Howard.

Yet another first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Heritage has auctioned off a number of these in the past, and they all seemed to go for over $20,000. This is a particularly nice copy.

A slightly tattered copy of H.P. Lovecraft’s The Outsider and Others.

Speaking of Lovecraft, there’s also a Visionary publication The Shadow Over Innsmouth. (Actually, there are two in this auction; that link goes to the nicer copy.)

Also from Lovecraft: Unbound signatures of the Recluse Press edition of The Shunned House. Making it even rarer is the fact that the copyright page remains uncanceled.

26 letters by H. G. Wells.

Speaking of Wells, here’s a signed first of The War of the Worlds. (Related: The signed H. G. Wells book I own.)

A nice copy of Alfred Bester’s Tiger Tiger.

A nice copy of Roger Zelazny’s Lord of Light, with a signature plate laid in.

Plus a few other miscellaneous SF items. However, the main strength of the auction overall is a number important scientific first editions, a signed first of ian Fleming’s Moonraker, etc.

Tags:Books, first editions, Heritage Auctions, Science Fiction
Posted in Books, Fantasy, Science Fiction | 2 Comments »